Kent - 11-plus row over expansion plan

Share this

Kent County Council will expand some grammars after more pupils than expected passed the 11-plus. The move by the Tory-led council, the UK's most selective LEA, has sparked rows over selective education and the 11-plus.

It is believed 5,113 children passed the exam but the county's grammars only have 4,458 places available - 993 of these children live outside the county.

Paul Carter, the council's leader, has ordered plans to be drawn up to increase grammar school places where schools are oversubscribed.

"It would involve an expansion in the west, with one or two extra forms of entry," he said. "We could keep 24 or 25 per cent of pupils going to grammar school by reduction in the east."

Margaret Tulloch, of the anti-selection pressure group Comprehensive Future, said: "Instead of tinkering with the sizes of grammar schools, Kent should be arguing for an end to its selective system, which labels most 10-year-olds as failures." rv.

Subscribe

If you are already a TES/ TESS subscriber please log in with your username or email address to get full access to our back issues, CPD library and membership plus page.